Hair-drying cap



Jan. 3, 1950 M. L. SAPP 2,493,363

HAIR-DRYING CAP Filed May 21, 1948 MAe/o/v Lee/w 514m;

INVENTOR.

Patented Jan. 3, 1950 HAIR-DRYING CAP Marion Loran Sapp, Long Beach, Calif., 'assignor to Hair-Queen Dryer Cap. Com, Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of California;

Application May 21, 1948-, Serial No. 28,142

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a hair-drying device and more particularly to an adjustable hair-drying cap adapted to be worn over wet hair of difierent configurations on the human head.

Hair dryers employing radiant heat or hot air, such as used in professional beauty shops where the subject is required to sit for a long period of time, are impractical to a large number of people. Portable hair dryers have heretofore been provided which employ dehydrating material, but such of these hair dryers as are known to me are deficient in that they are constructed in permanent form and are not flexible and cannot be adjusted to conform to heads or hair of difierent configurations. Other of such dryers are deficient in that the drying element does not come in contact with a sufliciently large area of the hair. Still others are deficient in that their construction permits shifting of the drying material. Also, their construction renders it difiicult to reactivate the dehydrating material.

The hair dryers used in commercial beauty parlors do not only require considerable time but are uncomfortable due to lack of adequate regulation of the heat and air employed in such dryers and the noise of the fans or blowers. In thehome, a great many subjects resort to placing the head in close proximity to an oven for the purpose of drying the hair, or holding the head over a heat register. Even these operations prevent a person from going about her household or other duties while the hair is being dried.

It is a primary object of this invention to provide a portable, adjustable hair dryer that may be placed on the head of a subject and worn as a cap, thereby permitting the subject to perform other duties while her hair is being dried.

Another object is to provide an adjustable hair-drying cap adapted to be worn over wet hair arranged in different configurations.

Another object is to provide a hair-drying cap or head covering of a compliant. flexible, nonmetallic material arranged to conform to the'contour of human heads of different configurations.

A further object is to provide a hair-drying device having the above characteristics that will be so constructed as to prevent the shifting of a hair-drying adsorbent employed in the device.

A still further object is to provide a hair drying device having the above characteristics that will be so constructed as to fit over wet hair of difierent configurations and provide a large contact area therewith.

Still other objects reside in a novel construction and arrangement of a device which renders its readily adaptable for placing in a domestic oven to reactivate the adsorbent or dehydrating material.

The above and other objects will be made apparent throughout the further description of the invention when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters refer. to, like parts. It is to be understood that the drawings are not a definition of the invention but merely illustrate a preferred form by means of which the invention may be effectuated.

In the drawings:-

Fig. 1 is a rear three-quarters perspective view of the present device fitted onto the head of a wearer.

Fig 2 is a side elevational view partly in per-,- spective of the present device.

Fig. 3 is, a sectional view taken along the line III-QIII of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4' is a vertical section of a container showing the present. device positioned in a moistureproof bag.

Generally speaking, the present device consists of a compliant, flexible, non-metallic head covering arrangedto conform to the contour of a human head. The device is so constructed as to, provide recesses or id'entations for the ears and provided with means for maintaining the device in place on the head. The device consists of an inner and outer layer of permeable, limp material and an intermediate layer of granular, comminuted, absorbent or adsorbent material, such as silica gel. The internal and external surface. layers are stitched in a particular manner in order to prevent shifting of the hygroscopic substance. I

More specifically, the present device, represented in its entirety by ID, may be formed from two pieces connected together at a center scam I I. Each of the two pieces or sides consist of an internal layer I2 and an external layer I3 of penetrable or permeable, fiexble cloth, firmly stitched and bound together at the outer edges. Positioned between the layers I2 and I3 is provided a supply of hygroscopic substance I4 capable of reactivation. The inner and outer layers I2 and I3, respectively, are then stitched, as indicated generally at I5.

The stitching I5 is so directed as to form pockets so that adjacent pockets, as indicated at I6 and I1, are in opposed position, the adjacent stitching providing similar pockets.

The two layers of compliant cloth (made of cotton, sisal, flax fibre, silk or other suitable organic material or glass fibre) are stitched by means of a plurality of parallel lines of stitching, each line being of zig-zag, castellated form, including aligned portions and transversely extending portions of substantially the same length as the aligned portions. By stitching the device in this manner, the pockets I 6 and I! operate to prevent the shifting of the dehydrating material I4 from one end to the other of the cap or head covering.

It has been found in practice that the construction of the seams to form the pockets l6 and I! does not only prevent the shifting of the drying material, but the surface of the pockets presents a large area to the hair being dried. The device more quickly and effectively absorbs the moisture from the hair because a large surface area of the inner layer and the absorbent is in contact with the hair. It will be noted from Fig. 3 that the corners of the pockets l6 and 11 containing the drying material are substantially square and tend to project into the hair more readily than if the sides of the pockets were oval or round. In the latter case, only the peaks of the arcs would be in contact with the hair and less absorption would be obtained than with the provision of the square corners, as herein taught.

On each side of the device there is provided at its marginal edge a recess or identation I8, which indentations 18 are arranged to accommodate each ear of a wearer. The connecting seam l I may terminate short of the rear marginal edges of the device, as shown at IQ, for providing an indentation or opening 2 I, which opening defines a pair of adjacent neck flaps 22 and 23.

For the purpose of maintaining the device in adjustable position on the head of a wearer, there may be connected to the forward marginal edge of the device a band 24, each end of the latter extending below the front marginal edge. as shown at 25, and of such length as to extend around each side of the head and hold the flaps 22 and 23 in close proximity to the neck of the wearer, as shown at 26.

After the hair is washed, marcelled or otherwise treated, the cap is placed upon the head and, if desired, covered with a beret, tam, or other hat or headdress, permitting the wearer to go shopping or to do her housework without interruption while the moisture in the hair is being absorbed by the cap. In order to p e t the adsorbent from picking up moisture from the air while the cap is in use upon the head of the wearer, the tam, beret or other headdress worn thereof may be made of an impervious, impregnated or coated fabric or plastic. Similarly, the other cloth layer 13 of the cap itself may be made of an impregnated or coated fabric, which makes it resistant to the passage of moisture or water vapor therethrough. The resinous or polymerized plastic composition or silicone used as an impregnating agent should be able to withstand the regeneration temperatures hereafter given. Ordinarily, the hair is dry and can be brushed out in 30 to 90 minutes of wear of the cap.

The present device may be readily reactivated by placing in a domestic oven forthe required time to drive 011 moisture from the adsorbent, after which time the device may be folded and placed in a moistureproof sack 21 of any suitable material and the sack 21 containing the device In stored in a container 28. Dehydration and reactivation of the cap can take place at temperatures of 2502'75 F. without deleterious effect.

Accordingly, there is provided a simple, comparatively light-weight, effective hair-drying device that may be used by a person for drying hair without the interruption of other duties.

The device may be readily adjustable to covering hair of difierent configurations for drying the same and thereafter placed in an ordinary '4 domestic oven for reactivation and stored in the moistureproof bag and jar until its next use is required.

Preferably, the transverse sections of a line of stitching are arranged to provide somewhat dovetailed pockets on either side of such line of stitching. The pockets or recesses of adjacent lines of stitching may face in the same direction (in a given zone transverse to such lines of stitching), thereby further insuring the localization of the contained absorbent or adsorbent and the production of a cap wherein a large area is in contact with the hair.

While I have illustrated and described a preferred form of the present device, it will now be apparent to those skilled in the art that certain changes, modifications, substitutions, additions, and omissions may be made in the single form shown without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An adjustable hair-drying cap adapted to be worn over wet hair of different configurations on the human head, comprising: a compliant, flexible, non-metallic head covering arranged to conform to the contours of a human head and virtually forming a hollow hemisphere, the marginal edges thereof including a pair of opposing indentations arranged to accommodate each ear of a wearer, and a rear indentation separating a pair of adjacent neck flaps, the head covering being composed of internal and external surface layers of permeable, limp material and an intermediate layer of granular, comminuted, absorbent material, said absorbent material being restrained from shifting between said layers and held in position to present a large contact area by a plurality of spaced lines of stitching connecting said internal and external layer, each line of stitching being in the form of a square wave.

2. An adjustable hair-drying device, comprising: a flexible, non-metallic head covering arranged to conform to heads of different configurations, the side marginal edges thereof including a pair of opposing recesses arranged to accommodate each ear of a wearer, a rear indentation defining a pair of adjacent neck flaps, the said head covering including an internal and an external surface material and an intermediate layer of hygroscopic substance capable of reactivation, the said internal and external layers being stitched to form pockets having substantially square sides for preventing shifting of the said substance and providing a larger contact area with the hair being dried.

3. An adjustable hair-drying device in accordance with claim 2, wherein the forward marginal edge is provided with a band, said band having loose ends for extending around each side of a wearers head and closing the said neck flaps.

MARION LORAN SAPP.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 17,447 Rufiio Oct. 1, 1929 2,003,610 Santurello June 4, 1935 2,420,358 Culligan et a1 May 13, 1947 2,453,179 Austin Nov. 9, 1948 

